The current appearance of humanity is the result of the complex historical development of human groups and can be described by highlighting special biological types - human races. It is assumed that their formation began to occur 30-40 thousand years ago, as a result of the resettlement of people in new geographical areas. According to researchers, their first groups moved from the region of modern Madagascar to South Asia, then Australia, a little later to the Far East, to Europe and America. This process gave rise to the primordial races from which all subsequent diversity of peoples arose. The article will examine what major races are distinguished within the species Homo sapiens (Homo sapiens), their characteristics and features.
Meaning of race
To summarize the definitions of anthropologists, a race is a historically established set of people who have a common physical type (skin color, hair structure and color, skull shape, etc.), the origin of which is associated with a certain geographical area. At present, the relationship of the race with its range is not always clearly visible, but it certainly took place in the distant past.
The origin of the term "race" is not reliably defined, but there has been much debate in the scientific community about its use. In this regard, initially the term was ambiguous and conditional. There is an opinion that the word represents a modification of the Arabic token ras - head or beginning. There is also every reason to believe that this term may refer to the Italian razza, which means “tribe”. It is interesting that in the modern sense this word is first encountered in the works of the French traveler and philosopher François Bernier. In 1684, he gives one of the first classifications of the main human races.
The classification of human races
Attempts to put together a picture classifying the human races were undertaken by the ancient Egyptians. They identified four types of people according to their skin color: black, yellow, white and red. And for a long time, such a division of mankind persisted. The scientific classification of the main species of races tried to give the Frenchman François Bernier in the XVII century. But more complete and designed systems appeared only in the twentieth century.
It is known that a generally accepted classification does not exist, and all of them are rather arbitrary. But in anthropological literature, they most often refer to J. Roginsky and M. Levin. They identified three large races, which in turn are divided into small races: Caucasoid (Eurasian), Mongoloid, and Negro-Australoid (equatorial). In constructing this classification, scientists took note of the morphological similarities, geographical distribution of races, and the time of their formation.
Race characterization
The classic racial characteristic is determined by a complex of physical features related to the external appearance of a person and his anatomy. The color and section of the eyes, the shape of the nose and lips, the pigmentation of the skin and hair, the shape of the skull are the primary racial attributes. There are also secondary symptoms, such as physique, growth, and proportions of the human body. But in view of the fact that they are very variable and depend on environmental conditions, they are not used in racial studies. Racial signs are not interconnected by one or another biological dependence, therefore they form numerous combinations. But it is stable traits that make it possible to single out large-order races (main), while small races are distinguished on the basis of more variable indicators.
Thus, the main characteristic of a race includes morphological, anatomical, and other characters that have a stable hereditary nature and are minimally subject to environmental influences.
Caucasoid race
Almost 45% of the world's population belongs to the Caucasian race. The geographical discoveries of America and Australia allowed her to spread around the world. Nevertheless, its main core is concentrated within Europe, the African Mediterranean and southwest Asia.
In the Caucasian group, the following combination of symptoms is distinguished:
- clearly profiled face;
- pigmentation of hair, skin and eyes from the lightest to darkest shades;
- straight or wavy soft hair;
- medium or thin lips;
- a narrow nose that protrudes strongly or moderately from the plane of the face;
- weakly formed fold of the upper eyelid;
- developed hairline on the body;
- large hands and feet.
The composition of the Caucasian race is distinguished by two large branches - the north and south. The northern branch is represented by the Scandinavians, Icelanders, Irish, British, Finns and others. South - by the Spaniards, Italians, Southern French, Portuguese, Iranians, Azerbaijanis and others. All the differences between them are in the pigmentation of the eyes, skin and hair.
Mongoloid race
The formation of the Mongoloid group was not fully investigated. According to some assumptions, the nationality was formed in the central part of Asia, in the Gobi desert, which was distinguished by its harsh sharply continental climate. As a result, representatives of this race of people mainly have strong immunity and good adaptation to cardinal changes in climatic conditions.
Signs of the Mongoloid race:
- brown or black eyes with a slanting and narrow cut;
- overhanging upper eyelids;
- moderately dilated nose and lips of medium size;
- skin color from yellow to brown;
- straight stiff dark hair;
- strongly protruding cheekbones;
- poorly developed hairline on the body.
The Mongoloid race is divided into two branches: the northern Mongoloids (Kalmykia, Buryatia, Yakutia, Tuva) and the southern peoples (Japan, inhabitants of the Korean Peninsula, southern China). For the bright representatives of the Mongoloid group, ethnic Mongols can speak.
Negro-australoid race
The equatorial (or Negro-Australoid) race is a large group of people, which makes up 10% of humanity. It includes negroid and australoid groups, which mostly live in Oceania, Australia, the tropical zone of Africa and in the regions of South, Southeast Asia.
Most researchers consider the specific characteristics of the race as a result of the development of a population in a hot and humid climate:
- dark pigmentation of the skin, hair and eyes;
- hard curly or wavy hair;
- the nose is wide, slightly protruding;
- thick lips with a significant mucous part;
- protruding lower face.
The race is distinctly divided into two trunks - the eastern (Pacific, Australian and Asian groups) and the western (African groups).
Minor races
The main races in which mankind has been successfully captured on all continents of the earth, branch out into a complex mosaic of anthropological types of people - small races (or second-order races). Anthropologists distinguish from 30 to 50 such groups. The Europoid race consists of the following types: White Sea-Baltic, Atlanto-Baltic, Middle European, Balkan-Caucasian (Pontozagros) and Indo-Mediterranean.
The Mongoloid group distinguishes: Far Eastern, South Asian, North Asian, Arctic and American types. It is worth noting that the last of them in some classifications, the slopes are considered as an independent big race. In today's Asia, the most prevailing are the Far East (Koreans, Japanese, Chinese) and South Asian (Javanese, Probes, Malays) types.
The equatorial population is divided into six small groups: African Negroids are represented by the Negro, Central African and Bushman races, Oceanian Australoids are the Vedoid, Melanesian and Australian (in separate classifications it is put forward as the main race).
Mixed races
In addition to races of the second order, there are also mixed and transitional races. Presumably, they were formed from ancient populations within the boundaries of climatic zones, by contact between representatives of different races or appeared during long-range migrations when it was necessary to adapt to new conditions.
Thus, there are Euro-Mongoloid, Euro-Negroid and Euro-Mongolo-Negroid subraces. For example, the laponoid group has signs of three main races: prognathism, prominent cheekbones, soft hair, and others. The carriers of such characteristics are Finno-Perm peoples. Or the Ural mixed race, which is represented by Caucasoid and Mongoloid populations. The following distinctive features are characteristic of it: dark straight hair, moderate skin pigmentation, brown eyes, moderate hairline. Distributed mostly in Western Siberia.
Interesting Facts
- Until the 20th century, there were no representatives of the black race in Russia. In the USSR, during the period of cooperation with developing countries, about 70 thousand black people remained to live.
- Only one Caucasian race is capable of producing lactase throughout its life, which is involved in the absorption of milk. In other major races, this ability is observed only in infancy.
- Genetic studies have determined that light-skinned residents of the northern territories of Europe and Russia have about 47.5% of Mongolian genes and only 52.5% of European ones.
- A large number of people who identify themselves as pure African Americans have European ancestors. In turn, Europeans can also find native Americans or Africans in their ancestors.
- The DNA of all the inhabitants of the planet, regardless of external differences (skin color, hair texture), are 99.9% identical, therefore, from the perspective of genetic research, the existing concept of “race” loses its meaning.